On Fright Night Dynamite, Swerve Strickland defeated Shelton Benjamin for Shelton’s first loss since debuting in All Elite Wrestling. MVP immediately got on his phone and made a call.
That call was for Bobby Lashley.
Bobby Lashley made his debut in AEW looking like Morpheus focusing on weight training in The Matrix instead of Martial Arts and came in to absolutely destroy Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana. It’s believed that MVP, Lashley, and Benjamin will be calling themselves The Hurt Syndicate.
Business is BOOMING. @The305MVP #AEWDynamite #AEWonTBS pic.twitter.com/hl2TrIogeu
— TDE Wrestling (@tde_gif) October 31, 2024
The Hurt Syndicate is of course just a way to get around being unable to use their name The Hurt Business, which is why MVP is flagrant in saying the “business” word in all of his promos. MVP, Lashley, and Benjamin as The Hurt Business worked in WWE mostly during the pandemic, with Cedric Alexander a member at one time as well.
The original “Hurt Syndicate” could be argued to be in TNA Wrestling, when MVP formed the Beat Down Clan with Samoa Joe, Low-Ki, Eric Young, and Kenny King. The original purpose of the Beat Down Clan was to be with Bobby Lashley, who rejected them. MVP even stated that Lashley, MVP, and Kenny King was the official first members of the crew.
Open For Business
MVP has targeted Swerve Strickland since the moment he came to AEW, trying to recruit him to his side. He’s also been giving business cards to everyone from Lio Rush to Ricochet. It’s interesting that MVP’s targets are former WWE talents now in AEW. Talents he knows very well. The Hurt Business feuded with Ricochet while Lio Rush at one point managed Bobby Lashley in WWE.
Swerve his history is a bit different. They did work each other on the independents at one point, but he doesn’t have a history or relationship with anyone in Hurt Syndicate like the other card receivers. I think this is a different situation, and magnifies what Hurt Syndicate is really here to do in AEW.
When Swerve Strickland first turned heel in AEW on Keith Lee, he formed a business of his own. It was the Mogul Affiliates, with Rick Ross, Trench, and Parker Boudreaux. That Affiliates group also talked about themselves as a business venture, eventually merging with Prince Nana’s Embassy to become the Mogul Embassy. This was more because the Affiliates was a bit of a failure due to Parker and Trench not being ready for AEW (Rick Ross was great nothing bad to say about Rick Ross.)
Swerve’s business presentation wasn’t like the business presentation of MVP. MVP is absolutely bringing a sports agent energy, representing his two sports athletes in Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin. Lashley and Benjamin are also on the wrong side of 40 and this is very much looked upon as a last true run for them. And here’s the former Mogul Swerve Strickland, former AEW Men’s World Champion, not just losing his championship to Bryan Danielson but also having his house burned down by Hangman Adam Page and destroyed in a cage match.
Strickland is supposed to represent progress in AEW, progress that the Hurt Syndicate tried to bring as a Business in WWE. They did obtain gold for a time or two but otherwise were hardly respected or used to the best of their ability. Lashley and Benjamin are both examples of men who had their potentials wasted in WWE, never used to the best of their ability. Swerve was also wasted and released from WWE, but then he came to AEW. Swerve’s accomplishments in AEW were without humiliation or being forced to accept a lesser role. Benjamin and Lashley can’t turn back time to their 30s then enter a time machine to go forward to debut at the same age Swerve did.
So if he won’t align with them? They’ll just take what he has. That’s his spot.
Clan Affiliated
You would think The Hurt Syndicate would target someone else. Someone who might be a better target. If they truly wanted Swerve in the Syndicate, why not take out the man who cost Swerve the top of the mountain? Everyone hates Hangman Adam Page right now. He’s already dealing with a numbers disadvantage against the Bang Bang Gang. Take Page out and Swerve would certainly be more flexible to joining the Syndicate. He’s merged companies before. What’s wrong with the Mogul Embassy becoming the Mogul Syndicate?
They didn’t go after Page. They didn’t go after the Death Riders. They didn’t go after The Elite. They didn’t go after the House of Black. They didn’t go after The Conglomeration. The Learning Tree. They went after Swerve Strickland, the first black AEW Men’s World Champion, just as he was returning from his weakest point. They are kicking a wounded man.
It’s clear that Bobby Lashley is likely going to fight Swerve Strickland at Full Gear, but I wonder if the eventual plan is a tag match between the Hurt Syndicate and Swerve Strickland. Who would Swerve pick as a partner? He doesn’t have much left for the Mogul Embassy, so Prince Nana would have to recruit someone. I wonder if that someone could be someone from MVP’s past. Now you know why I mentioned the Beat Down Clan.
Samoa Joe has been away after getting attacked by the Learning Tree. Him returning to tell MVP hey, I remember when we were Beat Down Clan and you tried to build this for Bobby Lashley only for him to reject us. You pulled me into that so I’m pulling myself into this. That said, I don’t know if I would trust Joe if I was Swerve.
Opening The Sealed Gate
I heard some complaints about Fright Night Dynamite that it involved too many instances of heels beating down the babyfaces. Usually I would agree with that criticism, but not right now. The reason is because I feel like Jon Moxley’s Crusade with the Death Riders (I am hoping they call themselves this officially and will continue to use it from now) is causing AEW to be in a state of chaos. It’s lawless right now, especially with Moxley putting his hands on Daniels without a whisper of punishment.
That lawlessness doesn’t have to only be focused on the Death Riders. You can have others also causing chaos and trouble. The Hurt Syndicate doing that helps magnify that this is a problem for everyone in AEW. The Young Bucks walking away from the company after losing the AEW World Tag Team Championship just helps establish that AEW is in trouble.
When WCW was invaded by the nWo, it wasn’t just the nWo causing trouble. You also had The Flock, Dungeon of Doom, and The Four Horsemen causing problems for WCW wrestlers. WCW didn’t get to keep their undivided attention on the nWo. It had battles on multiple fronts. This is why The Hurt Syndicate isn’t taking things overboard. The Death Riders have opened the sealed gate (Final Fantasy VI reference again, can you tell it’s the 30th anniversary and it’s on my mind?) and out of the gate come the new monsters of All Elite Wrestling.
The Hurt Syndicate are those monsters, and they proved it on Fright Night Dynamite. Swerve and Nana have to figure out a way to fight the monsters if they ever want to help AEW fight the Death Riders.
